Hunted
by RamblingFox2501
Summary: A girl is captured by the Sound.  She makes it out of her cell, but can she escape from the den of the snake?  This is a one-shot with an original character.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Kishimoto-san's **_**Naruto**_**.**

**This is a one-shot with an original character. Orochimaru creeps me out, and I had nightmares of him chasing me when I was in my teenage years. This story is based off of those nightmares.**

**I've heard that not many people like stories with original characters (OCs), but I like to try different things to see what really works for me…or not.**

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><p>Keiko Yamamomo woke up feeling unusually drowsy. She fought the urge to fall back asleep and she made her eyes as wide as possible. She gasped when she realized that she was in a cramped, dark, and dingy prison cell. Memories flooded her brain and she now remembered how she got here.<p>

Keiko had lived in a tiny, backwater village of Shiroiu with her family and some other villagers. In it, there were very few ninja present, and she was one of them, even though she was just a genin who had only just turned fifteen. As a kunoichi, she had the abilities of a sensory-type, though her abilities were magnified tenfold thanks to her family kekkei genkai. Because Shiroiu was a small village, it was a constant victim of bandits. However, Keiko was always among the few ninja who protected their village with their lives.

Then one day, Shiroiu was attacked, not by bandits, but by Sound ninja.

They came at night, when the only ones awake were the higher ranking ninja keeping watch. Strong as they were, though, they were taken down. The village awoke to the commotion and panic set in. Civilians fled, but they were either captured or killed. Keiko was escorting her parents out of the village at the time when they were ambushed by the Sound ninja.

She tried to fend them off, but they had managed to kill her parents. Completely surrounded, she was pinned down and a smelly cloth, most likely soaked in chloroform, was shoved in her face. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a man with snake eyes approaching her.

Why did they come? What did they want? Those were the main questions that echoed in Keiko's mind. She ran to the door of her cell and tried to open it, but as expected, it was locked. She sensed that someone was next to the door, so she banged on it with her fist and she screamed, "Let me out! Let me out, damn you!"

A loud bang came from the other side of the door and Keiko backed away. She heard a rough voice yell, "Shut up in there!"

Keiko backed further away until her back was to the wall. She slid down to her rear and she tucked her head between her knees. The reality of the situation was now setting in. In one night, her village was invaded, with everyone in it either captured or killed. She remembered her parents' corpses and she started to cry. As much as she wanted to bawl her eyes out, Keiko knew she couldn't afford to show such weakness to the enemy, so she cried under her breath.

Deciding that she should at least assess the situation, she focused her mind to see if anyone else was here. To her right and left, she sensed weakened chakras. In front of the door, she could sense that the guard had a small chakra level, which contrasted his intimidating voice. In the distance, she could sense other kinds of chakras, varying from average to strong, but almost all of them gave out bad vibes. One chakra in particular was cold and dark, as well as extremely menacing. Many thoughts ran through Keiko's mind again.

Where was she? Why did they take her? Why didn't they kill her? What did they want with her? She heard something slide open and she lifted her head up. Near the top of the door was a small rectangular window with grating over it. Peeking through it was a pair of glaring black eyes. Several feet away, she could sense someone approaching, someone with a strong, cold chakra.

"What are you doing?" A new, male voice spoke up.

The eyes moved away from the hole and the person answered, "Come look at this; the little genin's crying." The voice laughed. Keiko recognized it as the same voice that told her to shut up earlier.

A pair of black eyes behind glasses looked through the hole at Keiko. Keiko glared back, but she said nothing. The second voice asked, "How is the Yamamomo girl doing?"

"Eh? Why should I care?" The guard asked.

"Because," the eyes behind the glasses narrowed, "Lord Orochimaru wants to make sure that out 'guest' is comfortable."

"Always the sarcastic one, huh?"

Keiko tensed. She had heard that this "Orochimaru" character was the leader of the Sound. She didn't really know much about this person, other than the horror stories that she had heard from travelers. Some said that he was a demon snake who crawled out of a hole from the underworld. Some said that he ate human babies for dinner. Others say that his favorite hobby was torturing anyone he captures.

The one rumor she heard most, however, was that once in a while, Orochimaru would skin someone alive and wear their skin like how anyone else would wear clothes. Whether these rumors were true or not, they all made the same point: that this man was a cruel, sadistic killer.

"Say," the second voice spoke up, "when does your shift end?"

"In an hour, I guess." The guard sounded unsure.

"Ah, well then…"

There was a grunt, then a thud. The next thing Keiko knew, her door was being unlocked. The door swung open and she could see her surprise rescuer reveal himself.

It was a young man with short gray hair and glasses over his eyes. Keiko saw that those were the same glasses that she saw through the peephole. She stood up and cautiously asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Listen carefully," the man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Lord Orochimaru is greatly weakened, and he's not going to last long unless he does something soon."

"So…he's dying?"

"His body is, but he plans on taking another: yours."

She covered her mouth. She felt sick to her stomach. So that one rumor was true in some sense, he does take his victims' skins, though not in the way the rumor stated. But still, why does Orochimaru want _her_? She tried to ask, but she only managed to croak. As if reading her mind, the man said, "He wants you because of your extraordinary sensory skills. If he could help it, he would pick a shinobi with more unique skills, but you're the best available on short notice."

"I…" Keiko struggled to snap herself out of shock. "W-we gotta get out of here."

"I can show you the way out," the man stepped out into the hallway, allowing Keiko to leave her cell, "but if I go with you, I'll be accused of betrayal."

Keiko stepped out and saw that the guard was on the floor, unconscious. She looked at her savior and asked again, "Why are you doing this?"

The man was already taking a few steps forward when he stopped. Turning his head around slightly, he answered, "Because I find the very idea of Lord Orochimaru wearing you to be disgusting."

He continued on forward, with Keiko following some distance away from him. Fortunately for them, she could not sense any hostile chakras nearby. She could, however, still sense the weak chakras nearby. The man suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway and he crouched down. He felt along the floor until his fingers gripped something. To Keiko's surprise, he pulled a section of the floor out, revealing a rope ladder going down.

"This is the hideout's secret escape route." The man said to her. "You can find your way out from there."

"Wait," Keiko focused her attention on the weaker chakras, "I think everyone else from my village is here. We should free them too."

"I wish I could, but that would draw too much attention."

"Then let them out one at a time."

The man paused for a moment, then said, "Okay. You go on ahead; I'll send the others down when I free them."

Keiko nodded and proceeded to descend the ladder. When she was at the bottom, everything suddenly went dark. She looked up and saw that the cover was placed back over the floor above. There were no lights present, and Keiko's heart rate jumped. She wandered around with her arms outstretched until her fingertips touched a cold, stone wall. She felt around it and soon came to a corner.

She sensed no one down here, so why would the man send her down without a light? Nevertheless, her eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness, and she could faintly make out the surfaces of the walls. She slowly made her way forward, her hand never leaving the wall.

One floor above, she could sense that the weaker chakras had not moved for around five minutes. Also, that one man's chakra was just walking past them, as if he was ignoring the prisoners. Keiko clenched her fists. Had she been tricked? If so, then why did the man take her out of her cell and send her down here?

Without warning, the lights above suddenly came on. Keiko gave a startled cry, but she quickly covered her mouth. Did someone know she was down here? Looking around, she now saw that she was now standing in front of a four-way intersection. Somewhere on this floor, she could now sense a single presence descending onto the level she was on. She froze in her tracks. It was the cold chakra that she had sensed earlier.

Loud static rang out and she covered her ears for a few seconds. She looked up and saw that there were square boxes posted on every corner in the hallway, most likely intercoms. The static died down and was replaced by a creepy, but sickly, voice.

"So you think you've escaped, little kunoichi? I never let my prey escape me that easily, my dear." The voice started to chuckle, but it was cut off by a series of coughs.

Without really thinking, Keiko backed herself up against the nearest wall. She automatically assumed that it was Orochimaru that was speaking. She searched her pouch for any kunai or shuriken, but found that all of her ninja tools were missing. Her eyes widened at this realization. Keiko knew basic ninjutsu, like shadow clones, but her taijutsu was terrible, making her more of a support ninja than a combat one. In short, she could do nothing but run.

"I'm so glad Kabuto sent you down here," the voice went on, "it's been awhile since I got the pleasure of chasing my prey. Now, let our little game begin…"

The voice laughed manically, but was cut off by a series of hacking coughs once more. Keiko swore under her breath. That man _did_ trick her! Keiko ran back down the hallway to the rope ladder, only to find that it was now missing. Now panicking, she ran back to the intersection. She could sense that the ominous chakra had changed into something…less human, and it was already on the move.

Keiko made a hand sign and two shadow clones appeared at her side. They each picked a direction and moved out. This way, she could find the exit faster. She could only hope that Orochimaru would not find the real her.

Her footsteps echoed in the hallways. Her breathing became frantic. Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. All Keiko could do was run, and if she was found, it was all over for her. Fortunately, with her sensing ability, she always knew where Orochimaru was. All she had to do was find a way out while keeping her distance.

Wherever Keiko was, it was like a maze. There were nothing but hallways, intersections, and dead ends. She was having no luck in finding a way out, and neither were her clones. She kept her distance from Orochimaru, and she had her clones do the same. The chakra was moving fast, and it was getting closer to one of her clones. Keiko made a hand sign and the one clone vanished in a puff of smoke.

"You can't hide from me!" Orochimaru's voice shouted. "I can _smell_ you!"

"Damn!" Keiko swore under her breath. Was this guy part dog or something?

The lights flickered, catching her off guard for a second. The evil chakra was still on the move, and it seemed to be heading straight for her. She made a hand sign and formed as many shadow clones her chakra would allow her, which was somewhere around twenty. Thinking fast, she took off her shoes, empty ninja pouch, and some bandages that were wrapped around her arm from an earlier wound, and tossed them to random clones. Hopefully, Orochimaru would be fooled by her scent diversion and give her enough time to find a way out.

Keiko and the clones ran off in several directions, with each of them taking different intersections at each turn. Her plan seemed to work, as the chakra moved in the direction of one of her clones. She continued to run, but she saw no changes in the hallways. The chakra was closing in on one of her clones. In her mind's eye, Keiko caught a glimpse of Orochimaru before her clone was destroyed.

She didn't know what to make of what she had seen through her clone's eyes. It looked like a giant white snake, yet its face seemed somewhat humanoid. Just _what_ was Orochimaru?

Keiko was getting exhausted. She could hear her heart thundering in her ribcage, almost as if was threatening to burst out. She wanted to stop to catch her breath, but stopping was one of the last things she would do in this situation. Many more of her clones were taken down, and now the chakra was moving towards her direction once more.

Finally, she came to a different room. It was a large, square room that looked like a battle arena. Keiko had a bad feeling about this room, but the feeling temporarily went away when she saw a metal door at the other end of the room. With some hope in her heart, she ran towards it and grabbed the handle.

What little hope she had was now dashed, as the door proved to be locked. She twisted the handle, she pulled, and she pushed, but the door showed no signs of giving way. She placed a hand on the floor, next to the bottom crack of the door, and she could feel cold air seeping through. She was so close to getting out of here, yet this one locked door blocked her progress!

"Keeeeeeeiiiiikoooooo…" A voice hissed.

Keiko whipped herself around and gasped. Towering over her was a giant white snake. Each of its scales was actually white snakes bundled closely together. The head of the giant snake had spikey black hair and an almost human face, save for its fangs and yellow eyes. The snake hissed and it looked at Keiko with hungry eyes.

"I win." The snake said as it withdrew its head. "Now, give me your body!" It lunged forward, open mouth first.

Keiko ran to the left, barely dodging the snake's attack. Instead of hitting her, the snake's head crashed through the metal door. Keiko ran past the snake's body and started to make her way back to the maze of hallways. Many of the smaller white snakes stretched away from the main body and they all lunged for their fleeing prey.

Several snakes latched themselves on Keiko's arms and legs, and she was forced to run away from the giant snake's body, tearing and stomping on the smaller snakes as they came at her. When she rid her body of the snakes, she finally made it to the first hallway, though she was covered in bite marks. As she made several turns, she could sense Orochimaru's chakra following her. She remembered that the metal door from the previous was knocked down, and she thought that if she could make a loop in the maze, then she would be able to escape.

The only problem was that Keiko had no idea where she was. She still had a few clones in the maze with at least one of her possessions on her to distract the snake, but in the end, only pure luck would help her find the room again. Her arms and legs throbbed with pain, and she nearly tripped over her feet. Blood oozed out of her wounds and she felt her muscles start to weaken. Were the snakes that bit her venomous?

If that was the case, then Keiko didn't have much time left. She had no way of extracting the venom, nor any medicine that could treat her. If she continued to run, then the venom would just spread faster. However, she didn't really have a choice. If she stopped now, then her body would be forfeit, so Keiko decided that she would keep running.

Up ahead, she could finally see the large room again. Her hopes were raised again as she ran up to the doorway. However, just as she got there, she tripped and landed on the fallen door. Her whole body was starting to feel numb and it was becoming harder for her to move. It took all of her strength and willpower just to stand up again.

Keiko sensed that Orochimaru took down the last of her clones, and it was now heading towards her direction. She gritted her teeth at this realization and she hobbled through the doorway. Down the hallway, she could see a small flight of stairs leading up to a trap door with light pouring through the cracks. She reached the first stair and she tripped once more. She landed face first, her nose smashing on impact. She tried to stand up, but it was like her legs had turned to stone. She reached her arms forward and started to drag herself up.

There was a loud boom as the giant snake crashed through the small doorway. Keiko stopped and turned her body to the side. In the crowded space of the hallway, the giant snake seemed to grin at her. It said, "The poison has already taken its effect. You can't run from me anymore." It laughed.

"G-g-geeeeet aww-uhhhh…" Keiko's mouth also felt like it had gone numb.

"Let me take you." The snake inched forward and opened its mouth.

Keiko wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She tried to drag herself up the stairs, but she couldn't move her arms anymore. All she could do was stare into the black abyss that was the snake's mouth. The smaller snakes reached forward and wrapped themselves around her body. She could do nothing as they pulled her into the giant snake's mouth. When she was in the middle of its bottom jaw, the snakes released her and quickly retreated. Everything went black as the giant snake closed its jaws and swallowed her whole.

The next thing she knew, she was laying on something warm, slimy, and squishy. She tried to stand up, but her body wouldn't respond. She figured she must be inside the stomach of the snake. Why did it eat her when it said it wanted her body?

From the darkness, she could see a tall, shapeless blob rise from the floor. To Keiko's horror, her own body seemed to bubble and swell until everything but her face turned into a shapeless blob of flesh. She wasn't in any pain, but she still wanted to scream.

Fleshy tendrils rose from the form before her and reached themselves towards her. All Keiko could do was watch as the tendrils made contact with her flesh and merged with it. The tendrils moved further in and the blob in front of her drew closer to her.

Keiko felt sick. She couldn't tell if she was becoming that thing or if that thing was becoming her. Either way, whatever was happening, it was horrific. If she still had a throat, she would vomit. The blob came closer to her and she could see its face.

The thing had yellow snake eyes with purple markings underneath them and a long tongue sticking out of its mouth. Though the mouth didn't move, the voice of Orochimaru could still be heard, saying, "Do not worry, Keiko, you will not die, for you will live on as a part of me. Now, I thank you for the pleasure of the hunt…and your body."

The thing pressed its face against her own and the two shapeless forms of flesh fused into one. Slowly, the single blob of flesh began to form into a human body. Keiko felt strength flow through her limbs and, realizing that her body was back to normal, she stood up. She turned around and saw an opening. She made her way towards it until she found herself climbing out of the giant snake's mouth. She saw the trap door that led outside. She began to calm down. She didn't really know what had just happened back there, but she could finally leave this place.

However, her body didn't respond to her commands. Instead of leaving, she turned around and walked past the seemingly lifeless body of the white snake. She entered the large room and found that the man who had freed her earlier was waiting for her. She wanted to shout, "You bastard! You tricked me!" but her lips would not move.

The man with the glasses walked up to her and asked, "How was the rabbit hunt?"

She opened her mouth to curse at him, but instead, she said, "I haven't had this much fun since the last one."

Terror struck Keiko as she finally realized what was going on…and who was really in control.

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><p>…<strong>aaaaaaand that's all she wrote. In the first <strong>_**Naruto**_** series, it was revealed that Orochimaru's body (at the time) was that of a woman (why a woman, we'll never know). I guess you can say that this is my version of how he got that female body (or not, if you wish).**

**Hope you enjoyed the story!**


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